New study supports survival of microbes and organic compounds in space

Environmental data collected from an exposure panel exposed to the space environment for one year suggests that microbes and organic compounds present in the exposure panel would be able to survive, supporting the possibility of interplanetary migration of microbes and organic compounds. A description of the study and the resulting environmental data is published in Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Astrobiology website through November 17, 2018.

As part of the Tanpopo space mission, the Exposure Facility of the Japan Experimental Module of the International Space Station used a specially developed Exposure Panel to expose the microbe Deinococcus aetherius and organic compounds to the space environment. After one year they measured key environmental factors in the Exposure Panel on which the survival of microbes and organic factors would depend: temperature, radiation dosimeter, and VUV dosimeter.

About the Journal

Astrobiology, led by Editor-in-Chief Sherry L. Cady, a Chief Scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and a prominent international editorial board comprised of esteemed scientists in the field, is the authoritative peer-reviewed journal for the most up-to-date information and perspectives on exciting new research findings and discoveries emanating from interplanetary exploration and terrestrial field and laboratory research programs. The Journal is published monthly online with Open Access options and in print. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Astrobiology website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including New Space and High Altitude Medicine & Biology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.